Wellhead



Nov. 19, 1940. A. J. PENICK mu.

WELLHEAD Original Filed Oct. 23, 1936 Reissued Nov. 19, 1940 UNITEDSTATES I PATENT OFFICE Arthur J. Penick and Kirby T. Penlck,

Hons

ton, T

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a wellhead and has particular relation tomeans for suspending a tubing in the well and supporting said tubingfrom the casing head.

It is another object of the invention to provide in combination, acasing head and a tubing hanger with novel means for supporting thehanger on the casing head whereby the hanger may be secured in place,said supporting means 7 being retractable to permit the tubing to beelevated or lowered whereby washing fluid may be conducted down throughthe tubing and discharged at any desired point in the well and returnedup between the tubing and well casing to facilitate the washingoperation.

It is a further object of the invention to disclose a novel method ofwashing the well.

A still further object of the invention resides in a provision of novelmeans for maintaining a packing between the hanger and the casing head.

With the above and other objects in view the invention has particularrelation to certain novel features of construction, arrangement of partsand use and to a novel method, an example of which is given in thisspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

The figure shows a side viewof the head partly in section.

Referring now more particularly to the draw- 80 ing the numeral Idesignates the well casing attached to the upper end of which is thecasing head 2 having the side outlets 3, 3 which may be equipped withthe conventional gate valve, not shown. The casing head includes asuitable bonnet 4 which maybe secured thereon in any preferred mannerpreferably by bolts 6 with a leak proof gasket 6 between the adjacentparts. Bolted or otherwise secured on the bonnet there is a gate valvecasing I and the joint between said valve casing and the upper end ofthe bonnet may be sealed by the gasket 8. The inside dimeter of thevalve casing is approximately the same as that of the bonnet 4 andwithin the valve casing. around the passageway therethrough, are theupper and lower annular valve seats 19 and M which converge, -A taperingvalve l I is arranged to be actuated into closed position against theseats 8 and ID to complete the closing of the passageway through thevalve casing I. This valve may be actuated by the stem I2 in aconventional manner and this stem may be rotated by the hand wheel l3.There is atubular tubing hanger l4 adapted to be coupled to, and

to support, the tubing IS in the well. 86 Theupperendofthehangerl4isinternally threaded to receive the lower end of a lift pipe ornipple lia whereby the tubing may be lowered or elevated. When thetubing is'hung in place the lift nipple may be unscrewed and removed soas to permit the valve to be closed. 5

The hanger H has an external downwardly facing shoulder l8 therearoundand surrounding the hanger beneath and abutting said shoulder there isthe annular packing II. This packing is confined from beneath by thering I8 which, 10 for the purpose of assembly may be sectional or splitand which rests on the external upwardly facing shoulder 18 around thehanger.

AUuVe the shoulder Hi .the hanger is provided with an external annulargroove 28 whose lower 15 side tapers downwardly and outwardly forming anannular bearing face 2| and threaded through the wall of the bonnet 4are the retractable looking devices which comprise the outwardlyextended stems 22 and the inner conical shaped ends 23 and surroundingthe stems 22 and housed within the external annular flange 24 of thebonnet are the stufllng boxes 26.

Spaced beneath the locking devices is the in- SlCle annular channel 10In Bile bonnet and In LIllS channel are the retractable hanger supports21 WHICH have a SWlVGlllllg colmectlon Wlbfl corresponding radiallyextended stems 28. These stems have threaded connections with the wallsof the bonnet and stufling boxes 28 surround 3o them and are housedwithin the external housings 38 of the bonnet.

The stems 22 and 28 may be turned so as to retract the locking devicesand supports to clear the passageway through the bonnet 4 and the tubing15,- assembled with the hanger l4 and the lift pipe l5a, may be let downinto the well the. desired distance and washing fluid may be forced downthrough the tubing to wash the well and displace the heavy drillingfluid which will be 40 returned up through the casing I and out throughthe flow lines 3. The tubing may be then elevated or lowered and thewashing continued until the well is washed clean. The tubing then may belifted to elevate the ring I8 45 above the supports 21 and said supportsmay be moved inwardly byappropriate rotation of the stems 28 and thetubing then hung on said supports. The stems 22 may then be turned toproject their inner ends 23 inwardly against the 50 sloping face 2! tolock the hanger in place and to compress the packing l1 to the end thatthe tubing can not be forced upwardly or blown out by internal pressurein the well.

While the tubing is being manipulated as above explained, a seal may bemaintained about the lift nipple I50 above the valve casing l. Equipmentfor maintaining this seal; as illustrated,-

comprises a bowl 3| having an inside downwardly tapering seat 32 with aresilient pressure head 33 seated in said seat and closely surroundingthe lift nipple lid. The lower end of the pressure head is formed withan annular groove 34 providing outside and inside annular lips 35 and 36which flt closely against the seat 32 and the lift nipple I50respectively to maintain fluid tight joints. .The pressure from beneathwill enter the groove Bl so as, to force the outer lip outwardly and theinner lip inwardly to maintain tight seals. The upper end of thepressure head has a rigid cage I1 whose inside diameter is suflicient toallow the pipe couplings to pass therethrough and the pressure head willyield to permit such passage while the pipe is being manipulated ashereinabove explained. The bowl may be fastened to the upper end of thevalve casing I by means of the bolts 38 and a tight seal formed betweensaid bowl and easing by the gasket 39.

The pressure head 33 is maintained in place during the foregoingoperations by means of a clamp ring 39 which is secured in place bymeans of the bolts ill and which abuts the upper end of the pressurehead and a slip bowl ll may also-be secured in place above the clampring by means of saidbolts 40.

When the well has been washed and brought in the pressure head may beremoved, if desired,

and the usual hook-up of flow connections made.,

Before the pressure head is removed, however, the lift nipple may beunscrewed from the hanger I4 and elevated to clear the valve II and saidvalve may be closed to make the permanent flow connections above.

The drawing and description disclose what is now considered to be apreferred form of the invention by way of illustration only, while thebroad principle of the invention wil be defined by the appended claims.I

What we claim is: 1 1. A wellhead comprising a tubular casing headshaped to permit the passage of inner tubing therethrough, a tubularhanger in the head adapted to be coupled to, and to suspend, the

tubing, sealing means around the hanger, an upper, downwardly facingshoulder on the hanger abutting the sealing means, an insidesupportmovable inwardly into position to engage the lower end of thesealing means to suport the hanger and tubing suspended therefrom tocause expansion of the sealing meansinto fluid tight relation with thecasing head, means for moving the support outwardly to clear the sealingmeans to permit the hanger to pass downwardly below the support andinwardly to cause the sealing means to land on the support, a liftnipple attachable to and detachable from the upper end of the hanger, avalve on the casing head, a pressure head above the valve shaped to beautomatically varied in inside diameter by the tubing and hanger topermit them to pass downwardly or upwardly therethrough and tocontinuously maintain a fluid tight seal thereabout, said pressure headbeing spaced a sufiicient distance above the valve to allow the detachedlift nipple to be elevated into position to clear the valve to permitclosing of the valve and at the same time maintain a fluid tight sealabout the lift nipple whereby the well head may-be maintained closedagainst the escape of well pressure until the valve is closed. t

2. In combination a wellhead having an inside seat, sealing means onsaid seat shaped to surround an inner tubing through the head, a hangeradapted tO'be coupled into said tubing and of an outside diameter to fitsnugly within the head beneath said seat, said sealing means beingyieldable outwardly and Man inside diameter to 7 form a fluid tight sealabout the tubing and about the hanger, an inside retractablesupport'beneath the sealing means, means for moving the support radiallyinwardly into position to engage

